An Olympic challenge

Published 5:05 pm, Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Social Media Soundbyte is a regular feature running in the Friday Scene section. It highlights trends and developments in social media pulled from the Times Union's On the Edge blog.

With the Olympics on the horizon, Facebook and General Electric have launched a Facebook app called Healthy Share. The free app is designed to get you in shape through a series of challenges tied to Olympic athletes. Align with competitors such as Michael Johnson and Alex Morgan to take their challenges. Your progress is tracked on your Facebook newsfeed. The theory is that this will not only motivate friends to get healthy, but also hold you accountable.

Two area malls have gone mobile. Wilton Mall in Saratoga Springs and Rotterdam Square in Rotterdam launched mobile apps that provide shoppers with a mall directory, interactive map, sales and events and even a "where did I park" feature.

The apps are free in the Apple App Store, the Google Play (formerly the Android Market) or BlackBerry App World.

Where to hang out

Looking to be more social? Then go where the people are. And, thanks to Facebook check-ins we know exactly where they're congregating. The social networking site pored over millions of check-ins in 25 cities around the world to find out where people are hanging out.

Shopping is most-popular: malls and outdoor markets appear within the top 10 landmarks for 19 of 25 cities.

Amusement parks (such as Johannesburg's Gold Reef City, Moscow's Gorky Park and Seoul's Lotte World) were also in the top 10.

Not surprisingly, restaurants showed up regularly.

As to be expected, warmer cities had more outdoor check-ins, while colder climate (New York) found people in bars and concert halls.

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New York City was the closest to Albany on the map. If you are headed there, and want to be surrounded by social people, check out Times Square, Madison Square Garden and Central Park.